By Rich Winter

605 Sports

Coming off a second-place finish at the 2021 Class A state track meet, and with the loss of just two seniors, the Milbank boys are itching for the track season to begin. 

Seniors Bennett Schwenn, 2021 state champion in the long jump and triple jump, along with Nick Batchelor, one of Class A’s top distance runners are back to lead the Bulldogs. 

“We have a lot of guys coming back that led us to that second-place finish,” Milbank track coach Eric Townsend said “We won it in 2006 but last year was one of our best finishes ever.” 

Schwenn won the Class A triple jump as a freshman. Last season, he threatened Derek Gearman’s state meet record (46-9.25, 2003) when he soared 46-3.5. The South Dakota high school triple jump record was set by Hot Springs’ Bud Hamilton (47-11.5) in 1991. 

Milbank senior Bennett Schwenn won the long jump and the triple jump at the 2021 state track meet - Photo courtesy of Public Broadcasting

“We haven’t really talked about any records but I’m sure that is a goal he has,” Townsend said. “He’s within reach of those marks and hopefully he’ll stay healthy and be right there.” 

Schwenn finished fourth in the 100 meters at the state meet in 2021 (:11.18). He had one of the fastest 200-meter times going into the state meet but could not contest that event after an injury suffered in the triple jump. 

Schwenn is signed with the University of South Dakota where he is aiming to compete in the decathlon. His range and versatility makes for some tough coaching decisions regarding what events he should contest at the state meet.

“He’s a once in a career kind of athlete,” Townsend said. “The hard part is to figure out where to place him so that he can score the most points.” 

Schwenn ran the 400-meter leg on Milbank’s Howard Wood winning 1,600-meter medley relay team in 2021. That was the first Howard Wood boys relay title in Milbank history. 

Anchoring that Howard Wood medley team was Batchelor. The Augustana University bound Batchelor has been placing at the state cross-country meets since his middle school days and has been placing at state track meets since his freshman season.

Nick Batchelor is one of the top distance runners in all of Class A

“He was on the varsity cross country team as a seventh-grader,” Townsend said. “He’s kind of like Bennett, he has goals and his goals are to place very high or win the 1,600 and 3,200.” 

At last year’s state meet Batchelor finished 4th in the 3,200 (10:04), 3rd in the 1,600 (4:27.74), anchored the winning 1,600 medley team (3:39.72) and finished 3rd in the 800 meters (2:00.12).

The Milbank boys are the defending Class A champions in the 1600 meter medley relay - Photo courtesy of South Dakota Public Broadcasting

Coach and athlete were satisfied with all the results except the 3,200 meters. 

“He had COVID-19 right before the season and that limited his mileage,” Townsend said. “He’s been healthy this winter and put in a lot of miles leading up to the start of the season in early April.” 

Batchelor ran a sub 4:30 mile at an indoor meet in Brookings in mid-February. 

Other Milbank athletes to keep an eye on include: 

• Pole vault - Karson Weber, 3rd at 2021 state meet, 12-6

• Shot put - Ryker Trevett, 2nd at 2021 state meet, 51-10

“Ryker had surgery and he’s kind of on the fence as to whether he will be able to compete,” Townsend said. “Some of our relays should be good as we have athletes like Kaden Krause and Sawyer Gauer coming back.” 

Another athlete to keep an eye on is Batchelor’s younger brother, sophomore James Batchelor. 

“He placed 25th at the state cross-country meet and he’s a bit of a late bloomer but I think he has a chance to be pretty good,” Townsend said.